Some Promises
by redhairgreeneyes
Summary: Drake didn't believe in promises. But when Josh forces him to keep one important promise, he's determined to make this different. No slash.
1. Prologue Ch 1 Hospitals

_Disclaimer: Drake and Josh aren't mine. Sorry._

Some Promises

A Drake and Josh Fanfiction

By redhairgreeneyes

Promises were made to be broken. Drake knew this well. It's why when his father told him that he would keep in touch after the divorce, Drake understood what his father really meant to say. His father needed to fill the empty silence of that day as Drake stood on the front porch watching his Dad load his suitcase into the back of his Chevy. So he filled the silence with empty platitudes. Drake understood. It's just the way some things were.

That's why Drake never promised anything to any of the girls he dated. Why say something you didn't really mean? Since the day his father left, nearly eight years ago Drake had only made one promise. He had made his brother Josh one singular promise. And so help him, he was going to keep it.

_End Prologue._

Chapter 1

Hospitals

_Six Months Earlier_

"Drake! Wake up already! We're about to be late for school."

Drake Parker merely groaned and rolled over at the sound of his brother's voice. School? Already? It felt like he had only just fallen asleep. Which was especially strange considering he had gone to bed early the night before. Still only barely awake, Drake sat up in bed. Immediately the room began to swim before his eyes. He groaned again.

"Drake, would you please-" Josh began as he walked into the room, "Dude, you don't look so great. What's wrong?"

As soon as he said it, Drake's sleep-filled brain finally began to process information. He wished it hadn't.

"Oh man," he said, "Somebody make the room stop spinning."

"That can't be good. Sit tight while I get Mom." Josh said, hurrying down the stairs.

"Ugh." Drake let his tired body fall back onto the warm bed covers. He drifted between wakefulness and sleep for what seemed like hours until Josh finally returned with Audrey in tow.

"Drake, honey, can you look at me?" Audrey asked. Drake blinked at her sleepily. "What hurts, honey?"

Drake sucked in a breath. _Ouch_. Where did that come from?

"My stomach is killing me," Drake hissed from between clenched teeth. How could he not have noticed this when he first woke up?

Audrey laid her hand on his forehead. "You've definitely got a fever, you're burning up. Josh, can you bring me the thermometer?"

Josh cast a concerned glance at Drake, but left as Audrey requested. Audrey turned back to her son. She took in his pale skin and sweaty brow and decided that she was needed more at home today than at the office.

"Here, Mom." Josh had returned with the thermometer.

"Thanks, sweetie." She took the tool from Josh and turned back to Drake. "Open wide, Drake." She placed the thermometer under his tongue and turned back to Josh.

"Josh, I'm going to stay home with Drake today. Could you please drop Megan off at school for me?" she asked.

"Sure, Mom. Get better soon, Drake." Josh left the room.

The beeping of the thermometer made Audrey turn back to Drake. "Say 'ah'. Let me check this. 103.6. Definitely no school for you today. Let me go find some fever reducer and something for your stomach and I'll be right back."

Drake spent most of the day lying in bed in a stupor while his Mom fussed about. Despite the medicine, his fever had not gone down and the pain in his stomach only continued to grow. By the time Josh and Megan returned home, she was extremely concerned.

"Hey boob, are you still sick?" Megan asked, walking into the room with Josh following close behind.

"Go 'way, Megan." Drake slurred.

"Megan, leave your brother alone. He's still very sick." Audrey walked in carrying a cup full of broth for Drake.

Megan looked concerned at that. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"Of course he will, Megan. Now please go do your homework." Audrey said.

Despite what his mother said to Megan, Josh could tell she was very much worried. Audrey did not tend to fuss over little things, so Josh knew that something wasn't right. He waited until Megan had left the room to ask. Drake appeared to have fallen back asleep.

"Mom, is Drake okay?"

"I'm not sure. His fever just refuses to break and I'm concerned about the pain he is having in his stomach." Audrey said tiredly, running a hand over her eyes.

"Do you think it's serious?" Josh asked. Now he was definitely getting concerned.

Audrey sighed. "I'm afraid he might have appendicitis, actually. I don't think it's serious so I want to wait until your Dad gets home before trying to take him to the hospital."

"Appendicitis? That _is_ serious." Josh was stunned. Drake hardly ever got sick. And now he had appendicitis? That meant surgery and hospitals. Something Josh hated, very, very much. It was something about the way they smelled. Like they used so much bleach to cover up the smell of all that blood. Ick.

"I just need you to keep Megan calm when we go. She will be very worried, I know." Audrey said.

"I will, Mom."

"Thank you, Josh. I can always count on you." She said. Josh smiled.

Downstairs, the sound of the front door opening and closing alerted them that Walter was home at last.

"I'll be right back, Josh please keep an eye on your brother?" Audrey said.

As she left the room Josh turned to look at his brother. He just hoped this would all be over soon and Drake would get better as quickly as possible. He walked over to the bed as he saw Drake beginning to wake up.

"Hey, brother," he greeted Drake, "How're you feeling?"

"Crappy," Drake groaned. His stomach was killing him, and nothing seemed to be helping. "Josh, what's wrong with me?" he asked worriedly.

"Mom thinks you might have appendicitis." Josh explained.

"Yeah well, you snore even louder than I do." Drake grumbled.

Josh laughed. "_Appendicitis_, Drake. It's means that your appendix is inflamed. It's a routine surgery to remove it."

"Remove it!?" Drake sat straight up, his wide eyes staring at his brother.

"Don't worry, brother. I'll be right there with you." Josh said. Drake merely grumbled and fell back into the bed.

"Okay Drake, time to go to the hospital." Walter said walking in with Audrey close behind. "Think you can make it down the stairs?"

"Yeah, hang on…" Drake sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed. He stood up quickly and would have fallen over had Josh not been there to catch him.

"Slow it down, brother." Josh said as he supported Drake down the stepladder that led to his bed. They eventually made it downstairs and all the way out to the car. Josh helped settle Drake into the back seat and stepped aside as his Mom buckled Drake's seat belt.

"Hey, Josh?" Drake looked over Audrey's shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Keep Megan away from my guitar."

Josh just laughed and promised he would.

A/N: This is my first fanfiction and any feedback at all is welcomed and encouraged. Thanks!


	2. Be More Careful

_Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own Drake and Josh._

A/N: First of all, I would like to dediacte this chaper to Mika-chan for being my first ever reviewer! Second, a few of you whoo reviewed asked about the promise Drake makes as promised in the summary. I just want to tell you all not to expect that information soon. If everything goes as I am planning, there will be a suspenseful buildup to that. Third, I do have an outline for the entire story written out, but I would like to stay ahead of you guys by about two chapters. I hope to update weekly, most likely every Thursday. Last but not least, the story will be dealing with more serious material (drinking, etc.) and there is a bit of that in this chapter, so if you don't wish to read turn back now! Thank you all for reading, it's amazing to see my story getting all these reviews and hits. Thanks so much!

Some Promises

Chapter Two

Be More Careful

By redhairgreeneyes

"Drake? Wake up, brother."

Drake slowly opened his eyes. He quickly shut them again as the light blazed against his retinas. He heard a shuffling noise and then the voice spoke again.

"I turned down the lights. Try opening your eyes now," Came Josh's voice nearby.

Drake opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of his brother sitting at his bedside. "Josh? What happened?"

"Mom was right, you had appendicitis." Josh said. "You've been here for two days, you were running a fever. How're you feeling?"

"Better," Drake said, taking an internal inventory. The pain in his stomach was gone and he wasn't feeling feverish any longer.

"Good. Hopefully you'll be home soon."

"Thanks for being here for me, Josh." Drake said.

"Oh well, you know-" Josh started.

"-But more importantly, thanks for saving my guitar from Megan." Drake interrupted.

"Everyone knows where your priorities are." Josh rolled his eyes.

"Drake Parker?" A nurse walked into the room.

"That'd be me."

"Mr. Parker, I hope you don't mind but there seems to be a room shortage. Do you mind if we move another patient in here?" the nurse asked.

"No prob." Drake agreed easily.

The nurse returned shortly pushing a bed with a boy who looked to be the same age as Drake. She then turned to Josh.

"I'm sorry young man, but visiting hours are over now. You're welcome to come back tomorrow."

"See you, Drake. Mom and Dad were here earlier, but had to go back to the house to put Megan to bed. They'll be glad to hear you woke up. G'night." Josh said.

"Night, brother." Drake said, shutting his eyes. He was asleep before Josh was out to the car.

Walking down the hall to Drake's hospital room the next day, the Parker-Nichols family was surprised to hear laughter coming from within.

"Dude, and then we all got chased out of the store by the clerk, and he was-"

"Mom! Dad! What are you guys doing here?"

"Can't we visit our son when he's in the hospital?" Walter asked teasingly.

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you guys. Mom, Dad, this is Tim. Tim, these are my parents." Drake introduced them to the young man lying in the bed beside his own.

"Hello, Drake's parents." Tim said with a sly smile.

"Hello," Audrey responded coldly to Tim's sarcasm. "Drake, I just finished speaking to Dr. Brown. He says you'll be released as soon as the nurses finish the paperwork."

"Awesome!" Drake could not wait to get away from all these nurses, they were driving him crazy. They were constantly poking and prodding him and were forever checking and double-checking his temperature.

"Dude, you are so lucky! I'm dying to get out of here, but I'm stuck for another day." Tim said.

"That sucks, man."

"Yeah." Tim said with a heavy sigh.

Just then a nurse walked into the room carrying papers. "Mr. Nichols, Mrs. Nichols?" she asked.

"That's us," Walter volunteered.

"Okay, I'll need you two to sign these official release papers and then Drake is free to go," she said, smiling indulgently at Drake.

"Yes!"

Two weeks later, Drake had finally returned to his normal self. His surgery and hospitalization had definitely taken a toll on the normally energetic young teen. It had been a week before he returned to school, and even then he had come home and fallen asleep every night until he was woken up for dinner. Tonight was the first night he was going out in what seemed like forever.

"Hey, Mom. Can I borrow the car?" Drake asked, thumping down the stairs and pulling on his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Audrey asked.

"Just hanging out with the guys tonight. I haven't seen them in forever." Drake answered.

"Two weeks is hardly forever," Audrey said with a smile. "But, yes, you can take the car."

"Thanks, Mom." Drake said enthusiastically, grabbing the keys.

"Just be home by 11 o'clock." Audrey said, watching her son walk out the front door.

"Sure thing."

As soon as he was settled behind the wheel, Drake pulled out his cell phone and dialed Trevor's number.

"Drake, man! You're alive!" came an excited voice on the other end of the line.

Drake laughed. "Yeah, man. What's going on? You free?" Drake asked.

"Ooo. Sorry, dude. I'm all tied up tonight. Maybe later, dude." Trevor apologized.

"No problem, man. Talk to you later." Drake hung up, and dialed the rest of the band. Everyone was busy. 'Come on, there's got be something going on.' Scrolling through the contacts menu on his phone Drake found an entry for 'Tim.' On a whim, he decided to see if his hospital buddy was free.

"Hello?" came Tim's voice.

"Hey, man. It's Drake, from the hospital. D'you remember me?" Drake asked.

"Yeah! Hey, man, what's good?" Tim laughed.

"Not much actually, everyone around here is all tied up tonight. Are you busy?"

"I'm at a party now. But, dude you should totally come over. Do you know where Peck Road is?"

"It's just off Main Street, right?"

"Right, dude. Third house on the left. See you in a few."

Drake hung up the phone and turned the car towards Main Street. By the time he made it to the right address, the party was in full swing. There were a ton of cars parked on both side of the road. Drake parked as close as he could, and walked to house that was obviously hosting the party. The front door was wide open and even from his car, Drake could hear loud music playing. He walked in and looked around for Tim. He saw a bunch of kids he had seen around school, but had never talked to before. They were known for having a bad reputation and getting in trouble with the law. Drake was about to leave when he heard someone shout his name.

"Hey, Drake!"

He turned around to see Tim wading through the crowd towards him.

"Hey, man what's up?" Drake smiled.

"Just partying. Come and meet the guys."

Drake allowed Tim to pull towards the back of the house. In the kitchen he met Tim's friends. Joey, Luke, and Ben, were all nice enough and they got into a long conversation about music. They were all very interested to hear that Drake had his own band.

"Hey, anybody need a drink?" Luke interrupted.

"Sure," everyone nodded. Luke came back a while later with four plastic cups with what appeared to be punch. The punch tasted a little funny to Drake, but no one else seemed to notice, so he said nothing. As the evening passed, Drake continued to drink the punch that Luke continually kept filling his cup with. With each cup of the punch he drank, Drake had more and more trouble concentrating. Suddenly Drake looked at the digital display on the stove behind him. It read '10:37'

"Oh, shit. I need t' get goin', guys." Drake said.

"Aw, that sucks, man." Tim said. Drake agreed, but knew he needed to get going now if he wanted to make curfew.

"See, ya," Ben said.

Yeah, see you," Luke said. "Careful on the drive home, man. You've had a lot of the punch. I think someone spiked it."

"What?" Drake said. That would explain why his vision was all fuzzy, but why hadn't Luke mentioned this before?

"Actually, I think a lot of someones spiked it," Joey piped up.

'Great,' Drake thought. Out loud, he merely told the guys that he'd talk to them later and left.

Drake stumbled towards his car and fumbled with they keys. He was having trouble seeing and wasn't thinking very clearly. He did have enough presence of mind to take the drive home slowly, though it meant missing curfew. As he pulled up, he was glad to see the lights downstairs were all off, the only light in the house coming from the room he shared with his brother above the garage.

As he painstakingly unlocked the front door, Drake was trying to think of something to say to Josh to explain his situation. Hopefully, Josh would believe him when he said he hadn't meant for this to happen.

After stumbling through the house and up the stairs, Drake finally made it to his bedroom.

"Where have you been, man?" Josh asked, without looking up from the computer screen where he was currently IM'ing Mindy.

"Not s' loud," Drake said wincing and slurring slightly. This caused Josh to look up.

"What's wrong with you?" Josh asked.

"You're not goin' to b'lieve this."

"Try me," Josh said suspiciously.

Drake sat down on the couch and told his brother about the party and the funny tasting punch.

"How did you not realize it was spiked?" Josh asked increduliously.

"I wasn't really paying attention. We were just discuss'in some bands and I hardly noticed what I was drinking. I dinnit' realize how bad it was 'til I stood up." said Drake painstakingly.

This seemed to bring a sudden realization to Josh. "You _drove home_?" Josh hissed. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was? You could have gotten in an accident, or worse! How could you be so irresponsible?"

"I dinnit' mean to," Drake insisted. "I was just tryin' to make curfew."

"Yeah, well, I hope you realize how incredibly dumb it was." Josh said sternly.

"I know," Drake sighed heavily.

By now, Drake was feeling incredibly tired. Josh seemed to notice and helped Drake stumble up the step ladder and fall into bed. He slipped out of the room and silently made his way to the bathroom. He filled a glass with water and grabbed the bottle of aspirin. When he got back to his room, he could tell Drake was just about to drop off to sleep. He shook his brothers shoulder and handed him two pills and the glass of water. He made sure Drake had swallowed the pills and left both on Drake's bedside table. His brother was _not _going to have a happy morning, he could promise that.


End file.
